今日上海
Prada中国展览展示品牌对中国市场的重视 - 2023年12月12日
Luxury like no other
Classic looks in Prada's history selected by co-creative director Raf Simons.
Italian giant Prada's Shanghai exhibition demonstrates brand's focus on Chinese market, and displays its cultural, artistic side, reports He Qi in Shanghai.
In the fashionable and artistic confines of the Shanghai Xuhui Riverside, the Start Museum, decorated to resemble a retrostyle train, is taking visitors on a journey through the history of century-old luxury brand, Prada.
Pradasphere II, an exhibition that presents the world of Prada through stories, objects and ideas drawn from the brand's archive, opened on Dec 7. The Shanghai show follows on from Pradasphere, which was held in London and Hong Kong in 2014.
The exhibition is organized as a working warehouse of creative production curated by co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons.
The spine of the exhibition is a chronology of work drawn from every significant Prada collection. Intersecting this central narrative are fragments of emblematic Prada spaces, from the original 1913 boutique and the galleries of Fondazione Prada, to the cockpit of the America's Cup yacht Luna Rossa.
The first thing that catches the eye upon entering is the green velvet entrance displaying an Andreas Gursky photograph of an emblematic wall from one of the brand's early retail stores.
Inside, nearly 200 looks line the main corridor. They were carefully selected by Simons, and span the first collection to the current day. They guide visitors through more than 400 physical and digital artworks, along with collections from the fashion archives and decades of cross-border cooperation with the art, architecture, culture, and sports sectors.
The exhibition runs until Jan 21, and as the long-awaited fashion culture feast unfolds, it is gradually clarifying the brand's goals.
Classic handbags of Prada showcased at the exhibition.
In the belief that remaining culturally relevant and redefining luxury is Prada's most important pillar strategy beyond innovation and investment in the supply chain, Gianfranco D'Attis, chief executive officer of the brand, reveals that this is also the main reason behind Pradasphere II.
"I think the vision of Miuccia Prada is to make culture attractive. This is very important because art, culture, and fashion in today's world are very interconnected, and reflect the contemporary moment we are living in," D'Attis says.
He offers up a quote from Miuccia Prada: "My primary concern in my role is ideas; that's the reason for everything. Deep down, my goal with Prada is to make art and culture attractive. If art and culture are not attractive, no one will listen.
"This is the main reason we're here with Pradasphere II.We want to communicate art and culture through the lands of Prada, to convey our own perspective to the world," D'Attis says. "Prada is not just brand positioning, it's not just a lifestyle. Prada is real."
Pradasphere II, an exhibition that presents the world of Prada was unveiled in Shanghai on Dec 7.
The content of the exhibition echoes with D'Attis' explanation of the brand's cultural and artistic achievements, and as well as its breakthrough creations, such as the Prada films shot by famous directors and never-before-displayed documents pertaining to major architectural projects. It also features Re-Nylon looks via films from the brand's collaboration with National Geographic.
Another reason for holding the exhibition in Shanghai is to establish closer communication with Chinese consumers, and to continue to cultivate this promising market in the future.
"China is a very strategic market for Prada, and we're doing extremely well. The ambition is to basically double our brand exposure in the midterm future, and to invest more in China, in Pradasphere II, in communication, and in the distribution network; it's a reality. We want to make it work," D'Attis says.
Since its arrival in the country in the 1990s, Prada has slowly penetrated the important Chinese luxury market.
From the 2017 restoration of the Rong Zhai, a historical garden residence in Shanghai, to this year's cooperation with the Chinese women's football team, its approach confirms the brand's focus on the Chinese market.
Meanwhile, market feedback is also positive, with financial reports for the first nine months of 2023 indicating that the Asia — Pacific region, including China, grew by 21 percent year-on-year, according to the Prada group.
"I have been visiting China every two months, and each time I find that the Chinese consumer is evolving. By visiting frequently, we have always had the opportunity to improve, to launch specific products for the market, to improve all kinds of experiences in stores, and to improve how to engage better with our customers. And that's why Prada is so successful in China," D'Attis says.
"So through Pradasphere II, we want to message the Chinese consumer, as well as the world, that Prada is about the importance of substance and culture, which is about Pradaism," he adds.
Gianfranco D'Attis, CEO of the Prada brand, poses at the exhibition.
In order to further cultivate the Chinese market, D'Attis plans to launch more product and service categories, and increase the number of stores.
"I think we want to cover markets where we are underrepresented, we want to improve our existing stores and enlarge them, integrate more contemporary luxury concepts, integrate categories," D'Attis says.
Following the recent launch of two new categories — fine jewelry and a home collection — D'Attis is also considering launching more hospitality options, like Prada cafes in existing stores, in China in the next two years.
"We believe that in China we have further potential to develop the business. We know the customer very well, and we believe we can further the market share by improving relations with our customers and launching new products and services as we are doing now here with Pradasphere II. This is our commitment to the Chinese consumers, to offer them a better kind experience overall," he adds.
Caffe in the Pradasphere II exhibition in Shanghai.
Examples of Miuccia Prada's earliest nylon collection demonstrate the avant-garde focus of the brand.
Source: China Daily
